POPE FRANCIS CONDEMNS ‘ARROGANCE OF OCCUPIERS’ IN PALESTINE, UKRAINE

Tue 26 November 2024:

Pope Francis condemned on Monday what he called the “arrogance of occupiers” in Ukraine and Palestine in a rare stance against Israeli policy and a week after he first addressed the allegations of genocide levelled against Israel. Speaking at the Vatican on the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between Chile and Argentina, the Roman Catholic pontiff spoke of “current armed conflicts” and the “very painful suffering” they cause.

“I simply recall two failures of humanity today; in Ukraine and Palestine, where suffering is great and the arrogance of the occupier undermines dialogue,” he told diplomats and religious representatives in an improvised statement. He again criticised the arms trade, referring to the “hypocrisy of talking about peace while waging war.” Dialogue, added the pontiff, must be the essence of the international community.

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The Pope regularly offers prayers for the civilians in Gaza and Ukraine “who are suffering greatly” as well as for the release of the Israeli captives held by Hamas since the movement’s unprecedented cross-border incursion on 7 October, 2023. He received 16 former Israeli hostages on 14 November at the Vatican.

Last week, Pope Francis suggested that the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constituted genocide of the Palestinian people, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel’s conduct in its year-long war.

In a new book, Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics said, “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide.” Extracts were published on Sunday in Italy’s La Stampa. The book is scheduled to be published next Tuesday.

“Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon are immoral and disproportionate,” said the Pope in September, adding that the Israeli army had exceeded the rules of war.

This is the first time the head of the Roman Catholic Church has publicly condemned Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian Territory in such terms.

-MEMO

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